Convincing People To Show Up Problematic For Democrats *Open Thread*

On Monday, Jonah Goldberg appeared on “Happening Now” with The Hill’s AB Stoddard. The discussion was the upcoming election, as you might guess since it is just two weeks away. Specifically, the issue was how the Democrats are going to get women to show up to vote.

The Daily Caller has the story (and a video, which, unfortunately is not available at Youtube. I urge you to watch it, if you have time):

[…] This is one of my great frustrations with the way a lot of people talk about the “War on Women.” First of all, this idea that women, who are the majority of the country and a majority of the electorate, are somehow this homogeneous group who only vote on these very narrow birth control issues is sort of demeaning and sexist if you think about it. But Republicans let the mainstream media get away with this, they let Democrats get away with it.

Mitt Romney carried married women by a wide margin. Mitt Romney carried white women by a wide margin. The idea that all women vote as a bloc is ridiculous. Minorities are disproportionately Democrats for all sorts of reasons we can discuss, and therefore it follows that minority women would be too, and it skews the data a little bit. But we talk about these things as if there is only one way to appeal to women which is essentially ridiculous, and I wish the Republicans were better at pushing back against that.

Goldberg makes several great points: women are not a monolithic voting bloc. Many of us don’t care about getting free birth control (and many of us believe people should be responsible for their OWN birth control, and not expect others to pay for it), realize that despite Obama’s attempt to obfuscate on this issue, there are already Equal Pay laws on the books, and do not appreciate the infantilizing of women by Democrats and the Government. And that is just the very tip of the iceberg of the ways in which women are different one from another. Monolithic we are not.

There is another bombshell out, though, that might impair the Democrats’ ability to get people to show up and vote for them. And that would be Obama’s signature plan, the so-called Affordable Care Act. Well, a recent study by HHS itself, has some not-very-good-news for Obama and the Democrats. From the Daily Caller:

The Obama administration has funded a new study by top consulting firm RAND Health that startlingly finds that if taxpayer subsidies are eliminated, Obamacare exchanges will fall into a “death spiral.”

The study comes in the wake of a number of lawsuits which are challenging the Obama administration’s implementation of Obamacare subsidies. Three lawsuits have made it to U.S. Circuit Courts, just one step from the Supreme Court, arguing that the text of the Affordable Care Act allows premium subsidies for state-run exchanges only. (RELATED: Second Court Strikes Down Obamacare Subsidies In Federal Exchanges)

The report was sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which, among other duties, compiles the enrollment statistics each month during open enrollment for Obamacare exchanges. Given the ongoing controversy over Obamacare subsidies, HHS sponsoring the study could be a sign that the administration is beginning to worry about its prospects.

The administration’s motivations aside, the key finding from the report belies HHS’s pro-Obamacare position. Eliminating premium subsidies entirely would “cause large declines in enrollment and substantial increases in premiums,” RAND Health concluded. In short — Americans are far less likely to want Obamacare coverage, or to be able to afford it, when taxpayers aren’t footing the bill.

There is that, and then there is the upcoming rise in premiums for ACA policies:

RAND found that without the ACA’s subsidies, the cost of premiums will rise by 43.3 percent and Obamacare enrollment will fall by a whopping 68 percent. That would mean 11.3 million more Americans would be uninsured. […]

FORTY THREE POINT THREE PERCENT (43.3%) without subsidies. A friend mentioned the other day how much her ACA-healthcare will be going up. (As I have complained about often here, ours has already gone up a ton thanks to the ACA, and will go up an additional 30% in December.) She isn’t the only one, of course. Everyone who has an ACA policy will be impacted by rising premiums.

There are many more issues facing this Administration, and the nation, that will make it harder for the Democrats to get out enough votes to keep their seats. It isn’t looking good for them, that’s for sure. Not to put the cart before the horse, or anything, but yeah, they have quite a bit to overcome, including Obama and his policies. From The Hill:

[…] “We are going to win the Senate. I feel very good about that,” National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Rob Collins said last week.

His optimism is well-founded: The GOP needs to net six seats to take the upper chamber, and positive polls in Colorado, Arkansas, Alaska and other battlegrounds have Republicans buoyant. House Republicans are also aiming for historic gains to pad their majority.

Meanwhile, Democrats privately fret that the battle for Congress may be slipping away as President Obama drags his party down. […] (Click here to read the rest.)

Uh, yeah. Obama has not helped their cause, not by a long shot. And he keeps making it worse for them. So good luck to them overcoming Obama and his policies!

I want to end this on a winning note, though, and that would be a very cool video I aw on “Special Report” last night. This was so sweet, so kind, and so heartwarming, I just have to share it:

I LOVED how the opposing team members threw themselves to the ground as if they were missing the tackles. What a tremendous gift they gave this young boy, Gabe. Good on them, and good for the team for making this happen.

Ahh, what a sweet video. It’s so important to remember, in the midst of the horror show that is politics, that people are also capable of great compassion and kindness. Sometimes I’m tempted to throw in the towel and just write us off as a species, but then along comes some example of what we’re really capable of and my faith in humanity kind of just slips back in place. 🙂

Thanks, Insanity! And you are so right – it is easy when you see the machinations used in the political realm, the hate speech, the arrogance and condescension, that people really are capable of great kindness. As I said above, I just LOVED that the opposing team threw themselves down as if they were missing tackles. How sweet was that??

Honestly, after seeing some of the crapola coming out now, like the most recent from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, something like this is just what I needed, too! 🙂

No matter how hard the Dems work to get out the vote it won’t work if their voters are angry or discouraged. If you don’t feel that the Dems have done anything for you it may cause you to just stay home. That’s what all too many GOP voters did in 2012. They didn’t get the kind of candidate they wanted so they didn’t bother to vote and we all got stuck with Obama for another 4 years. I cannot understand that kind of thinking.

Now the Dems are running into the same problem. Their voters did get the candidate they wanted and are finding that just because he’s 1/2 black doesn’t mean that he gives a rat’s backside about them or their wants and needs. Can’t eat birth control pills can ya ladies?

As I’ve said, I am no longer a Paul Ryan fan. But I will hold my nose and vote for him because at this point in time, IMO, there are a lot of bad Republicans but there are no good Democrats.

Great post, btw! I had forgotten about Kennedy’s Equal Pay act.
Jonathan Goldberg is so on-point, as usual.

And, I’m sure I’m not the first to think of this, but….I believe that Obama won’t order a hard core travel ban re: Ebola because he and the Dems are having a helluva time getting American blacks to commit to voting in 2 weeks for midterms…and the racebaiters would be out for his hide if he imposed a travel ban on their black brethren in Africa.
Could this be the reason, unbelievable as it may be.?? Does his selfishness, and hatred for whites, viciously run that deep?? (rhetorical question!)

Stacey Dash mentioned the Equal Pay Act the other day. Now, as someone who marched and protested for Equal Pay, I have to wonder WHY we were doing that?? Why the Lily Ledbetter Act? Why was Obama calling for yet ANOTHER Act back this summer?

The laws already exist, so why were we told by so many women’s groups that we needed to have it? I just don’t get it – enforce the laws we DO have, and stop using this as a political. ginned up carrot/stick.

It really is bizarre that Obama is acting like “Citizen Ruler of The World!,” not wanting to interfere with the economies of African countries while ours is struggling, and we are being forced to shell out TONS for those cases we DID have, not to mention the by-product of the quarantines. What abt OUR economy??

Thanks, Cuz’n! It just occurred to me that, given Obama’s propensity for protecting all things and people Muslim, perhaps that could be part of it.

And yeah – that’s just it – the way the spin goes, it seems the populations are larger than they really are. From what Wikipedia has, the percentage in the UK (mostly in England) of Muslims is 4.4%. You’d think it was a lot more, wouldn’t you? Perhaps it shows a disproportionate kowtowing to certain groups in the UK, as well as here (where the number of Muslims in the US is less than 1%, according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States. You’d never guess THAT from Obama…).

Oh my Blessed Mother of Barbie!! Are y’all following the EPIC disaster-in-real-time known as the Wendy Davis for Governor of Texas Campaign?! Who needs SNL and Comedy Central when we here in Texas have this entertainment every night?!!

I read that a few months ago, when the campaign was just a plain ol’ disaster, not epic as yet, she demoted her faithful senior guy advisor, a Texan, and hired…..drumroll…. Harry Reid’s former press sec’y Zac Petkanas(sp?). How is that workin’ out for ya, Wendy?

Had she not noticed what an effing idiot Harry Reid is?! Gawd …you really can’t make this stuff up…LOL

This is great! And maybe one does need to be older, but honestly, I don’t remember him being treated with anything other than respect. Of course, that was back in the day before Republicans were called terrorists and everything…Ahem.

They certainly seem to approach most issues from a racial perspective. Add in the hypocrisy of ignoring any racial, ethnic or religious slur if it comes from the left and you have not only hypocrites but hypocrite bigots.

I stopped reading or listening to Paul Krugman back when I was still a Democrat. Even then his brand of crazy was a little too much for me. He hasn’t gotten any better through the years and as this piece shows, he may have gotten worse. He seems to have gone from lacking common sense to lacking any sense.

Older voters better start paying attention – while they still have a chance to avoid the consequences of Obamacare. Of course the wealthier old timers don’t have to worry. But those of us who really do not want to be shuffled off this mortal coil before we’re ready…Obamacare Dumping Patients Into Medicaid

I love it too. And its too bad there aren’t enough of them around to make one of the most reliable votings blocks around wake up and smell the death panels. Perhaps the term is a bit hyperbolic but in the end that’s what they are isn’t it? What do you think my chances would be with a liberal bureaucrat deciding on my fate?

The liberal media did their best to destroy Sarah Palin for their liberal pals and she just refuses to stay down. She’s got more guts and character than all the liberals combined.

And hey, remember how they eviserated her about “Death Panels”? And yet you will soon have one coming to your state thanks to Obamacare. Oh Goody, a frickin bureaucrat gets to decide my fate. What could possibly go wrong once they learn that I – 1. Hate Big Government, 2. Think there are lots of bad Republicans but NO good Democrats, and 3. believe that a bill that exempts the politicians that passed it is a sign that its time to get rid of those politcians?

Yes, they did, and yes she just keeps going on. Must make them NUTS! No doubt that is why they continue to make fun of her and put her down. They just cannot stand that she is right so often and they are so wrong so often…

Oh, and I commented above abt the “death panels” – suffice it to say, she was right!